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Third Essel-backed online lottery Megawin launched
MUMBAI: And then there were three. After Sikkim and Karnataka, Subhash Chandra’s online lottery venture added Maharashtra to its portfolio with the launch last night of the state’s online lottery game Bonus Ball.
Essel Group subsidiary E-Cool Gaming has been licenced to operate the lottery while Essel’s Playwin Infrawest – as is the case for Sikkim and Karnataka – will provide the infrastructure.
As per the agreement reached in March, E-Cool has made a minimum guarantee to the Maharashtra government of Rs 1 billion in the first year of operation. E-Cool has committed a total return to the state of over Rs 50 billion (Rs 51.5616 billion to be exact) over the next ten years on a net present value calculated at Rs 19.04 billion discounted at the rate of 14 per cent a year.
Playwin currently has 4,000 online lottery terminals in 280 cities across the country, CEO Sanjay Das said. This number would be go up to 10,000 by the end of March 2003, Das said.
Queried as to what was the revenues being generated by the online lotteries, Das said it was Rs 200 million a week. Das also clarified that, at least in the near term, Playwin was not planning to tap any more states to start online lotteries.
In brief, Megawin’s operations run in this manner. The central server is located in the Mumbai suburb of Vashi. Lottery terminals situated at prominent locations across the state will scan payslips submitted and these will then be communicated to the central server. The central server will give a unique validation number as well as the security barcode to the terminals which will then be printed out. To give the audience a flavour of what could be expected one free ticket was issued to all present. One had to vertically strike out six numbers in a single block.
The draws will be shown live on Zee TV. All lottery tickets will carry the elephant logo, which belongs to the department of state lotteries.
Fending of criticism that the move was encouraging gambling, state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that a fund would be set up which would devote a portion of proceeds estimated to be around 40 per cent to the development of rural areas in the state. Deshmukh also said that the lottery would be available in other states as well but that the government would have to constantly innovate the gaming system as agents appointed by other states give a much lower share of the profit to the government.
The media attention largely focussed on the stars of ‘Devdas’ Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan, both of whom made a late entrance. Also part of the Bollywood brigade were Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra. They, as well as the politicos, were welcomed on arrival by the roll of drums and trumpets to give the proceedings a local Maharashtrian ambiance.
All that remains to be seen now is what per cent of Playwin’s total revenue is generated from Maharashtra.
News Broadcasting
Kamlesh Singh receives Haldi Ghati Award from MMCF
India Today Group editor honoured for three decades of journalism at Udaipur ceremony.
MUMBAI- Kamlesh Singh just turned a lifetime of sharp words into a shiny shield because when journalism wakes up a society, even the Maharana of Mewar wants to pin a medal on it.
The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) conferred its prestigious Haldi Ghati Award on Kamlesh Singh, a senior editor at the India Today Group, during a ceremony in Udaipur on 15 March 2026. The national award, instituted in 1981-82, recognises “work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism.”
Singh, who leads several editorial initiatives including Aaj Tak Radio, the Teen Taal community and The Lallantop, was presented the honour by Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Managing Trustee of MMCF. The citation highlighted his three decades of contributions to Indian media, innovations in digital journalism, mentoring young reporters, and his popular podcast persona “Tau” on Teen Taal, which fosters thoughtful public discourse.
The Haldi Ghati Award, named after the historic Battle of Haldighati symbolising valour and resilience, is one of four national awards given annually by MMCF. Past recipients include Tavleen Singh, Piyush Pandey and Raj Chengappa.
Other honourees this year included Padma Vibhushan Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Vedamurti Devvrat Rekhe, Treeman of India Marimuthu Yoganathan, Vir Chakra Capt Rizwan Malik, and US-based researcher Molly Emma Aitken, who received the Colonel James Tod Award for contributions to understanding Mewar’s spirit and values.
In an era where headlines often shout louder than substance, the MMCF quietly reminded everyone that real journalism isn’t about noise, it’s about the quiet, persistent work that stirs society awake, one thoughtful story at a time.
